Templton Fair

Every year of my life, Templeton has had a fair near the end of August. I remember very clearly, barely being able to ride my bike and still biking the mile it took to get to that fair. The fair, for me, is a grounding point. For the past few years there has been no difference at all in the venders and still it is something that marks the end of summer and the return to work. Its funny that it still does this for me. I love it. I love that the historical society still opens its doors then, and the crazy rush for food at the food tent. I love all of the auctions, and seeing strange people that I new forever ago....I love Templeton's end of August fair.

Where I have been

I created a couple other blogs over the past few days. These are historically and locally focused. Here is the link...
http://oldnewengland.blogspot.com/
It has been keeping me pretty busy.... Take a look around. :)

My heart

It is the last trip that I will make to UMASS hospital. When I was born, I had an extra nerve in my heart (Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome) I didn't know until my first attack when I was 15: I was jogging around the gymnasium in gym and my heart began to beat fast and hard. Ever since then, I had around 10 attacks a year. My heart would speed up to around 250 beats per minute... pretty fast... It felt very much like something was alive in my chest, like a gopher running on a wheel. Also, I became very aware of any irregularites my heart would go through on a daily basis. My heart would shift between these light feathery rythms and natural beats. So, about two years ago, I changed doctors and my new doctor told me that I should see a cardiologist. (I had only seen one once for a diagnosis) I wen't to UMASS and was informed that WPW can kill people.



My heart could go not only into atrial fibrulation, but that arythmia could translate down into my ventrical and my whole heart could beat at a very fast rythm, and that could kill me. No one had ever told me that before. They advised that I have an ablation. It was largely succesful (95%) and fairly noninvasive. They put electrodes up and into the veins in my legs and fed them into my heart.



I hate doctor's offices, and hospitals and anything white and labbish looking. I have a pretty signifcant fear of medical stuff. So, it took me a bit to work up the courage tosay yes to the operation. I remember that first visit, they said they could do the operation next week if I said yes.... I said no... and waited about three months.



So the day of the operation came. I went with my parents.. whom I felt had been with me through this whole heart thing and deserved to be there, and my wife. I nearly passed out when the IV was inserted into my hand in the prepping room. I remember feeling the fluid cold in my hand and feeling as if I was sinking into something fluid. I asked the nurse if I was being sedated, and she responded "No honey, your'e passing out..." in a voice that only a nurse that has worked for many years can muster. I have never passed out, and the shock of it drove me back to the surface (and it really felt like that too... swimming up through my unconsiousness). Then, Jenny came in to see me off and they wheeled me into the operating room. The nurses were quickly getting everything ready. I remember seeing stainless steel everywhere and those awful white, square, lights that you see on tv. The nursese talked to me about Henry and told me to ask for more medicine if I needed it ( I was being put under conscious sedation). Then the doctors came in said hi and told me to count to ten.....1, 2, 3......

The next thing I remember is waking up, lifting my head and frantically asking for more medicine.. then gone again...

I woke up after the operation and I don't remember who told me, but someone came in and told me that the operation was unsuccesful. Jenny and my parents then came in. Jenny said I was crying when I told her that the operation was unsuccesful. The dotcors came in then. They both looked pretty pissed. Its funny because I don't expect that from doctors. The intern's hair was messy and he was visibly angry and seemed to be holding back from yelling.

I had to stay overnight and they put me on a medication to control the rhythm of my heart. I stayed, then left. The medicine, Flecanide, was to be taken twice a day. I took a double dose once by mistake.....had to call the poisen control center... lots of fun. But I was fine.

Anyway, I stayed on this medicine, which made my heart incredibly constant, for about a year. It was great because I knew that my heart would not go into a wpw episode while I was on it. I went back for checkups and the doctors were amazed at how well my body was taking the medicine. It had removed any sign of wpw. That was unusual. Normally there would be remnants of iregularity showing up on an ekg. But for me there was nothing. Eventually, Doctor Rosenthall began to find it strange that the wpw wasn't showing up. He had me take a stress test. WPW is agrivated by exercise. It still didn't show up.

The next checkup, he asked me if I would try going off of the medicine to see if the wpw would show up without the medicine. He thought there was the possibility that the burning of the cathaders had scarred enough to sever the extra nerve causing my wpw. The intern thought that there was no way that could happen. He thought that my body was just reacting very well to the Flecanide.

Eventually, I did go off of it and took another ekg. It wasn't there. I did a stress test, and it still wasn't there. I waited two months and had another stress test. It wasn't there. I watied another six months untill today, and had another ekg. It istn't there. Dr. Rosenthall happily said "I say your'e cured!" And, I don't have to go and see him ever again. He also said, as I was leaving with a big grin on my face, "You know where I am if you need me." I don't think I am going to need him again. :)

I prayed for this. After my failed opperation, I was confused and depressed. It took so much courage to let myself get into that opperation. The doctors said the succes rate was at 95%!!! How could I be the five. I prayed that God would take away the WPW, and after the doctors didn't, He did... He is always faithful..

Fishing with Henry...

We took Henry to Rutland State Park fishing today. It was a beautiful day, 82, bright and sunny. Henry only cast in a couple times before he got bored and started using a hook remover to fish the nightcrawlers out of the little cup we bought them in. It was nice to see Jenny enjoying herself though. We spent about an hour and a half there. Before that, I cleaned up the cellar and found my old laptop that I am using now. It is actually working really well!!! I ate awfully today..... Jen works first thing in the morning... to quote the great David Coverdale... "Here we go again."

Day with my Dad

Today I spent the day at my Dad's house. We are trying to finish off my cabinet doors. We spent about an hour doing it yesterday. We also went to some guys house in Holden and bought two bookcases from him for my class. Today, my class started feeling a little more like my class..... I can'nt wait for school to start again. There were some huge thunder storms last night. Henry isn't afraid of them in the least.

Comet Pond II

Well, we borrowed my dad's cabana thinger.... It worked well. I have dtermined that I am truly an engineering genius. Give me any crazy contraption that they dream up and I will figure out how it works without the instructions.... Oh ho ho ah haha!! (evil laugh [that when written unfortunately looks like Santa having heart failure]) Henry actually wanted to go in the water with me by the end of the day. We stayed for about three hours. It was great. I might want to do this A LOT more often.

Comet Pond

I wanted to spend the good part of the day at Comet Pond yesterday. But, I wanted to buy a cabana so Nora woudn't be in the sun the whole time. So, Henry and I went to Walmart to try to find one... They lead me to every corner of the store, and... nothing. So, Henry fell asleep on the way back, and when I came home, the cats, Jenny and Nora, were all sleeping. I guess it was nap time. Every one slept until about 4:00. We still did make it to the beach. We stayed for about an hour and then the beach closed. Henry didn't want to go in at first. I had to carry him in. But once he was in he liked it. I swished him around and he really liked it. I tried to get him to dunk his head in the water but.... it wasn't happening. I love Comet pond. It is one of the cleanest ponds in Massachusetts. It's real name is Asnacomet Pond. I remember, years ago, I canoed on the pond and it was a very strange experience. Its so clear that I could very clearly see the botom of the pond and I had the distinct feeling that I was flying... and that I could fall and hit the bottom of the pond. Jenny asked me if I wanted to go and canoe there again. Sounds like fun!!!

Rutland State Park

Jenny almost had the day off today. She was called in, and that is rare. So, she is making a pocket-full of money. But she missed a completly gorgeous day. Henry, Nora and I went to the state park for the sole purpose of Henry being able to throw rocks into the water. He did do that, but the completely abundant kiver population caught his eye. I brought a banana for him to eat and he dropped it on the ground. So, we discovered that kivers actually like to eat banana. Its no big surprise... they eat everything. I remember when I was young. I was camping and we ran out of bait. We just threw our hooks in and the kivers would bite onto the bare metal. They aren't too bright. Anyway, Henry enjoyed getting muddy and throwing everything he could find into the water... including bananas.

Trip to the mall...

Sounds easy right........ wrong. Jenny was at work.... Nora is getting two new teeth..... Henry was grumpy..... it was raining... All of these were reasons that I would have used not to do anything in the past. Still... I went out and bought two new pairs of jeans and a whole bunch of close for Henry. I walked the mall with Henry begging me to push the stroller and really tried to enjoy it. Well, we will call it a half success. I did get out :) Tomorrow is another day... and its not supposed to rain.....

Boston Children's Museum

Yesterday, we took a trip into Boston. We went on the subway, which Henry loved. We had lunch at Quincy Market... which proved to be a real challenge with all of the people and such, and then took the T to the children's Museum. This is from the place that I got a marvelous plate of fried clams. (Check out the guys in the back :) )

Henry absolutely loved it!! And, for the first time, being a teacher actually financially paid off a bit..... I got in free.... So, $18 gets a whole day of fun. I am definately taking Henry back. He had something of a breakthrough. Henry is naturally cautious, and is kind of afraid of a lot of things. But, I think the amount of kids climbing through things and just laughing etc. made him forget all of that and just have fun. He climbed up to the second story of this incredible netting thing that went up like three stories. He loved it. IT was kind of crazy because if he freaked out, there was really no way for me to get in there and get him out....

He also really gained som confidence on this little climby thing. There was a wall of pegs to climb and the first time he tried he was really slow, but he went up and through this little tunnel with a balance beam. Then, he went down a steep ramp with tiny steps.... He was really proud of himself and wanted to go again and again and again... His favorite though was this little canal toy that let kids direct the flow of water with these little faucets. He really liked it. He said it was his favorite.

All in all, this was a great trip. We are definately going back.

Party at Pauline's.....

First official day... This morning I went shopping for rugs. This is really not a great thing. Rug's are hard. To get a really nice one we would have to pay a ton of money, and the cheap ones all look pretty...well...cheap. The expensive ones are way over our head. So, frustration. On top of that, we have differing opinions of what we want....etc.... just a recipee for disaster.

Right, on to the party.

I have twin aunts, Pauline and Paulet. Niether of them are in this picture. Every year we have a summer party and more time than not its at my aunt Pauline's. Here is a run down of who is in this picture.

Here is my cousin Jen. She is pretty great. I am always glad to see her. Life, and a couple bad decisions have handed her a pretty tough deal right now. Still, she is reallly nice and has great kids. They are party people. I remember a couple of years ago during Christmas, Casey and Emily (her son and daughter) came walking in to my grandmothers house chanting "Lets get this party started (while marching [they were 8 and 10 years old]). I have always loved Jen. She needs a great guy to marry her.

Here is Aunt Martha. She is not my Aunt. I think I call her that because my Cousin Shonda calls her that. She is her Aunt. She's nice enough. I thought about living in her house once with one of my friends. That lasted less than a week.... I don't remeber why that was.

This is Skip. He lives with Martha. He's nice enough. I think he owns a Auto Salvage place.

Here is my dad, and behind him, Nora and my Mom. Happily, My dad stopped with the comb over a while back.

Gramma. She is looing better and better. She stopped smoking less than a year ago and her eyes have cleared. It was really nice to see her looking so good.

Here is the first person at the party that I don't know. I think it my Uncle Alby's sister. She was pretty nice.

Here is Henry!! He just finished off the bowl of Cheese puffs. He had apretty good time. I think he would have liked to run around a bit more but the raind and the dogs (I'll get to those later) kinda prevented that.

Shonda hates having her picture taken and here she is posted on the internet..... She is also the most likely one to find this blog. This could lead to my ruin.... SHONDA IS THE BEST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET IN MY LIFE. (hope that saves me)

Jenny. She had a good time at the party. I think she wanted to go to this. Sometimes its nice to go somewhere mildly fun and just let it happen around you.

Here's Tammy. She brought her relish. It's funny, I always thought I was the canning type and Tammy started doing it before me. I thik I am a little jealous but mostly happy to see her having fun doing it. Her relish is really good!!!

Here are the dreaded unknown people. It is ok at summer parties, so this wasn't really that bad. It's at its worst when its at a holiday party or something like that. I don't know why I dread it that much. It always just feels awkward. Surrounded by my family, people that I have known my whole life, and then to see a completely unknown face feels like an invasion. Anybody else feel like this?? My Aunt MArie is sticking out in the back of them. Her husband, my uncle Bruce died a while back, that was one of the saddest things I have been through.... still sad about it... still don't really understand... Aunt Marie is great though.

So, that's about it. The party was typical and fun. Other people were there two, big characters like Uncle Tommy, Aunt Paulette, My cousins Brian and Kelly, My niece Katie, and a few other older people that I didn't know, hmm..... that's about it. The food was good: dips, hamburgers, hotdogs, some tropical drink that was blue, good good good.....

Setting out....

Here I am....

with 3/4 of my family. My wife is at work. It's 5:41. After I am done with this entry, I am going to cook a steak and some sort of vegetable and some sort of starch. Then, I am going to eat a bit of it and give the rest to Henry (in my left arm). He's three, and Nora, she's six months. We just built the house I am in less than a year ago. We just bought the chair I am sitting in because Henry had lead poisoning from an old aprtment (he's perfectly fine now) and we had to buy all new furniture when we moved in. The past five years have been packed with stress, and craziness. Today I took a drive in the car to give both kids a nap. While I was driving down old, dirt back roads, by Mount Wachusett, past farms and forests, a little bit of life came back to me. And, I made a decision: I am going to do something everyday, not just something mondane, but something. And, I am going to write about it here.

We will see what tomorrow might bring..........